Red Cross Continues to Help People Impacted by Debby As Hurricane Ernesto Hits Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

More than 1,000 American Red Cross disaster workers continue to help the thousands of people impacted by Hurricane Debby as they clean up their homes and plan their next steps.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ernesto is passing over Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands today with 75 mph winds and heavy rain. The Red Cross is on the ground on the islands and will respond as soon as it is safe to do so.

HOW TO HELPPeople urgently need aid now. You can help by making a financial donation or an appointment to give blood or platelets by visiting redcross.orgor calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767).

RED CROSS RESPONSESince shelters were opened for Hurricane Debby, the Red Cross and our partners have provided more than 1,760 overnight stays in more than 60 emergency shelters. In addition to helping in shelters, Red Cross teams are bringing relief services directly to people cleaning up their homes. This support includes thousands of meals, cleanup kits and other resources to help families start recovering after the storm's destruction.

To help better understand what families will face, the Red Cross is working with local officials to assess residential damage left behind by Debby. Preliminary reports indicate more than 370 homes were destroyed or have received major damage. These numbers may rise as damage assessment continues.

While the current focus is on addressing the immediate needs of those affected, the Red Cross also plays a critical role in helping families and communities recover in the weeks and months after a disaster. The Red Cross remains in contact with local officials across the impacted areas to evaluate the needs of the residents. Anyone affected by the storms can receive assistance by calling 1-800-RED CROSS(1-800-733-2767).

Find more information about Hurricane Debby here.

PLEASE GIVE BLOODThe Red Cross declared a national blood emergency on August 5 but remnants of Hurricane Debby and other severe weather across the country are complicating efforts to rebuild the nation's blood supply.

Inventory challenges are not unique to the Red Cross. In fact, many blood collecting organizations are facing a critical summer shortage making patients particularly vulnerable. Weather in the past two weeks has forced the cancelation of nearly 60 blood drives throughout the country, many of which were caused by Debby, forcing approximately 1,500 lifesaving blood products to go uncollected.

We urge those in unaffected areas who are eligible to make an appointment to give as soon as possible.

CLIMATE CRISIS The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports 2024 could become one of the busiest hurricane seasons on record, especially with the peak of the season - from August through October - still to come. NOAA has predicted 17 to 24 named storms of which 4 to 7 could become major hurricanes.

The climate crisis is impacting the frequency and intensity of disasters like hurricanes.

Warmer water in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea and the possibility of La Nina developing can enable more storms to develop and strengthen.

Overall, the Red Cross is responding to twice as many major disasters as we did a decade ago to help families and communities struggling with more frequent and intense disasters.

Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP)Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by disaster, regardless of cost.

ADGP $1M Members: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; Chobani; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; CMA CGM Foundation; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald's Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo

ADGP $500k Members: Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company Fund; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Zoetis

Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; ALDI; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railroad Association; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Dollar Tree and Family Dollar; Duke Energy; Equitable; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L'Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LKQ; Macy's, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Martin Marietta; Masco; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Phillips 66; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Santander; Security Finance's Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Stephen's Inc.; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty; U.S. Foods; Yum! Brands; Zurich

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